Clinical Trial Contracts & Budget Lead, Remote

Merck & Co.; Rahway (NJ); Remote; USD 117,000 - 184,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) plan with match

Paid holidays and vacation

Remote work options

Job summary

Merck & Co., Inc. in Rahway, NJ seeks an experienced contracts professional to manage site agreements, budgets, and related documents for Clinical Research projects.

You will negotiate CTAs, CDAs, budgets and amendments, ensure compliance with ICH-GCP and local regulations, and collaborate with CRM, CRA, and finance to meet country timelines and commitments. The role requires strong negotiation, attention to detail, and ability to influence investigators and partners to deliver quality

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or higher.
• 3+ years of experience in negotiating contracts or budgets.
• JD degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, analyze, negotiate, and execute required site agreements and associated budgets.
• Maintain database and files for all contracts, approvals, and budgets.
• Coordinate with CRM/CTC/CRA/COM-R to meet country deliverable timelines and commitments.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Budget management

Regulatory compliance

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

English communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree or higher

Juris Doctor (JD) degree (preferred)

Job description

Job Description

This role is accountable for performance and compliance for assigned protocols in a country in compliance with International Council for Harmonisation (ICH)/Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and country regulations, our company's policies and procedures, quality standards and adverse event reporting requirements internally and externally. Under the oversight of the Sr. Clinical Operations Manager (COM), Head COMs or Therapy Area Heads (TAH), the person is responsible for preparing, analyzing, negotiating, and revising Clinical Research related contracts and budgets through all phases of the contract cycle.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Prepare, analyze, negotiate, and execute required site agreements and associated budgets including Clinical Trial Research Agreements (CTRA), Master Clinical Trial Research Agreements (MCTRA), Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements (CDA), Multiple Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements (MCDA), Imaging Research Allocation Grid (IRAG), Master Fee Schedules (MFS), Facility Use Agreement (FUA), Reimbursement Letters, Amendments and Assignments
• Utilize legal fallback language, budget parameters, and elevate site-specific issues that do not comply with established guidelines for review and approval
• Maintain database and files for all contracts, approvals, and budgets in conformity with uniform naming and savings convention
• Assume responsibility for all aspects of document and metric tracking to ensure timely execution of site agreements
• Perform quality control checks of agreements prior to execution
• Coordinate and liaise with Clinical Research Manager (CRM), Clinical Trial Coordinator (CTC), Clinical Research Associate (CRA), Clinical Operations Manager - Regulatory (COM-R) (Finance and legal if, appropriate) to collaborate on Site Ready Deliverables including identifying risks and implementing mitigation plans to meet country deliverable timelines and commitments
• Lead and develop relationships with key investigational sites and Site Management Organizations across the contracting and budgeting interface
• Contribute to the development of local Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Review, negotiate, elevate, and facilitate business approval for Site Access Forms, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Access Forms, and Institution Policies as required and applicable
• Liaison with Payment Coordinators / Clinical Trial Coordinator - Finance (CTC-Fs) to issue contingency approvals, troubleshoot, and amend Agreements as required.
• Contribute or lead initiatives and projects adding value to the business, as appropriate/required
• Contribute strongly to COM team and other Country Operations roles knowledge by acting as process Subject Matter Expert (SME), sharing best practices, making recommendations for continuous improvement, and providing training as appropriate/required
• Contribute to COM team knowledge by acting as buddy/mentor and sharing best practices as appropriate/required
• Required to in/directly influence investigators, external partners and country operations to successfully delivers clinical and financial contracts within fair market value
• Works in partnership internally with GCTO (Global Clinical Trial Operations) country operations, finance, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, legal and regional operations, Headquarters (HQ) functional areas and externally with vendors and sites

Core competencies:

• Expertise of core clinical systems, tools and metrics
• Excellent verbal and written influencing and training/mentoring skills, in local language and English
• Strong coordination and organizational skills
• Skilled knowledge of budget and contract negotiation and understanding of how these impact study start-up
• Ability to indirectly influence investigators, vendors, external partners and country managers to address and resolve issues, with minimal support from the Sr.COM or manager
• Ability to make decisions independently with limited oversight from Sr.COM or manager
• Ability to proactively develop risk management and mitigation plans in the country and resolve issues locally
• Ability to lead a team of CTCs as applicable

Behavioral Competency Expectations:

• Problem solving is essential to this position
• Requires the ability to pro-actively identify issues and risks, analyze root cause, and propose solutions to problems and elevate to management as applicable
  • Specific examples of common problems include:
    • 1) Issues in budget / Clinical Trial Research Agreement (CTRA) negotiations
    • 2) Quality and compliance issues
    • 3) Regulatory and legal issues
    • 4) issues related to functional area deliverables that could jeopardize protocol milestones
• Effective and efficient time management, organizational and interpersonal skills, conflict management and problem-solving skills
• High sense of accountability and urgency in order to properly prioritize deliverables
• Strong communication, leadership, and negotiation skills as well as excellent influencing and training/mentoring skills, both written and verbal, in local language and English
• Ability to focus on multiple deliverables and protocols simultaneously is essential. Requires that the individual has ability to work effectively also in a remote virtual environment with a wide range of people
• Positive mindset, growth mindset, capable of working independently and being self-driven
• Able to directly influence site staff

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree or higher
• 3+ years of experience in negotiating contracts or budgets
• Juris Doctor (JD) degree (preferred)

Required Skills:

Clinical Site Management, Clinical Trial Compliance, Clinical Trial Management, Clinical Trials Operations, ICH GCP Guidelines, Influencing Skills, Leadership, Negotiation, Problem Solving, Project Management, Quality Control Management, Regulatory Compliance

Preferred Skills:

Clinical Research

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As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.--As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.- For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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Salary range for this role is

$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits.

• Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.

More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits .

San Francisco Residents Only

We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. -No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.-

Employee Status

Regular

Relocation

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship

No

Travel Requirements

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements

Remote

Shift

1st - Day

Valid Driving License

No

Hazardous Material(s)

N/A

Job Posting End Date

10/19/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE -the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.

Requisition ID

R421622